1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to bicycles having automatically shiftable transmissions operated by a control unit. More particularly, the present invention relates to such bicycles and a method of controlling the control unit and its associated display with at least one switch that is mounted remotely from the control unit and its associated display.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bicycles are being equipped with increasingly sophisticated equipment. One type of bicycle now has an automatically shifting transmission. To control the shift timing, the bicycle is provided with a control unit. The control unit, in addition to controlling shifting, also can track and/or calculate distances, time, bicycle speed and the like. The values that are tracked and/or calculated then can be displayed on a screen. This information is useful to the serious bicyclist who uses the information during training and to the recreational bicyclist who can track distance traveled, speed and time spent bicycling.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,412, issued on Dec. 6, 1994, to Ming-Fu Chou, disclosed a bicycle meter assembly that had a separate body portion and a keypad. The keypad was installed on a handlebar of the bicycle substantially adjacent to a handgrip while the body portion was installed substantially near a middle of the handlebar. Thus, the bicyclist was able to operate the keypad without removing his or her hand from the handle grip. The keypad was provided for controlling the display modes of the meter. The operator could not, however, effect any changes to stored data with the keypad.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,044, issued on Oct. 19, 1993, to Paul M. Anderson, disclosed an automatically shifting bicycle having a display that could be mounted to a handlebar. The display was connected to a microprocessor and a pair of switches also was connected to the microprocessor. The pair of switches was mounted to the handlebar. One switch was used to increase upper and lower limits of shifting speeds and the other switch was used to decrease the same upper and lower limits of shifting speeds. The switches did not adjust the display but only manipulated the shifting speed limits. A set up switch was provided to alter various values stored in memory. The location of the set up switch was not disclosed, however.